


Downward Dog

by clarkjoekent



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff and a little Angst, M/M, Tenzo is a little shit, Yoga Teacher Gai, english teacher kakashi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:40:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23320357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clarkjoekent/pseuds/clarkjoekent
Summary: Kakashi loses a bet and has to go to a yoga class with his friend Tenzo. As soon as Gai walks in, he can't tell if losing was a bad thing or if he was given a chance to love again. If his sleep schedule permits it and his kids don't kill his new crush.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy
Comments: 6
Kudos: 126





	Downward Dog

**Author's Note:**

> This whole idea was based on one (1) fake naruto tweet and a bunch of back and forth hcs with a friend (thanks Sweets this one is for you)

“Come on Kakashi, you promised to come with me.” Tenzo beat on the man’s front door like he wanted to bust it down. 

“Maa, okay Tenzo I’m coming.” Kakashi shouted back, muffled by the door in between them. He opened it and sighed. “See here I am, getting ready to do something I hate.”

“Oh you mean actually moving around and not sitting reading those gross books.” Tenzo laughed at his friend. “You should put on some sweat pants instead of jeans.” 

“Fine, I didn’t know there was a dress code.” Kakashi slammed the door in Tenzo’s laughing face and then reappeared in sweatpants and a loose black tank top with his black mask. 

“Better.” Tenzo unlocked his car doors and they both got in. 

A few weeks prior they had a bet, if Kakashi’s class could beat Tenzo’s class in test scores, Tenzo had to go see the new Icha Icha movie. If his class lost, Kakashi had to go to one yoga class. Tenzo won so now he has a pouty teacher in his passenger seat. 

“It’s not as bad as you think. I think you are going to love it. The teacher is a bit much but he’s supportive.” Tenzo glanced over at his friend. 

“Nothing is worse than an energetic yoga instructor.” Kakashi groaned. 

The studio was 20 minutes from Kakashi’s house and they made it just in time - despite Kakashi’s best efforts. Tenzo packed an extra mat just for Kakashi so he had no excuse and they made their way inside. They placed their mats down and Tenzo helped his friend out with some stretches. The instructor was nowhere to be seen. 

“I hope he’s a no show.” Kakashi whispered to Tenzo. He got punched twice, once from Tenzo for his comment and the second punch came from the instructor’s voice as the door swung open. 

“Hello everyone I’m sorry I am late! I was doing 300 laps around the building and I lost track of time!” The man was dressed in a green track suit and sporting the ugliest bowl cut known to all mankind. 

“Oh god.” Kakashi rubbed his face with his hands, Tenzo had to hide a snort.

“I see we have a few new students! Welcome! My name is Gai and I have been teaching yoga for the last 6 years.” His energy was off the wall. He walked to the front of the room and rolled out his neon orange mat. “If you have any questions feel free to ask!” He took off his jacket to reveal a green crop top. His abdominal muscles were on full display and Kakashi’s mouth went dry. 

“We will start in the resting position.” Gai’s voice suddenly went soft. 

The class lasted an hour and somehow Kakashi managed to survive it. The poses weren’t hard for him, much to Tenzo’s dismay Kakashi actually does yoga at home. It was seeing Gai make the poses that nearly killed the man. Gai would take a moment after each pose and walk around the room, straightening backs out or helping people. He was behind Kakashi once but then moved on making his face burn bright red. Tenzo almost broke the Tree pose by snickering. 

By the time the class finished he was happy he wore loose sweatpants. 

“So you like the class?” Tenzo smirked. 

“Not the class. Gai, the instructor? What marble was he carved out of? He’s inhuman.” Kakashi was still in awe. The haircut and thick eyebrows were no longer a problem and he was questioning his choices in men. Tenzo took one look at Gai and shook his head. 

“He teaches three classes a day all week. If he isn’t here his kids teach.” 

“He has kids?”

“Yeah 3. All adopted although one looks almost exactly like him, it’s a little scary.” Tenzo wrapped up his mat. 

“Hmmmm.” Kakashi loved the way Gai laughed while he was talking to the students that surrounded him after the class. 

“You’re staring at him Kakashi, just go talk to him.” Tenzo rolled his eyes. 

“Nah, he’s occupied.” Kakashi busied himself with wrapping his mat up, he wasn’t going to embarrass himself by talking to a man like Gai. He’s been there and it did not go well. 

“Too late he’s coming over.” Tenzo didn’t bother hiding his delight at embarrassing his friend. 

“Hello Tenzo! Nice to see you again!” Gai clapped a hand on Tenzo’s shoulder. 

“Yeah I had to do a school thing the last two classes but I’m back and I brought a friend, Kakashi.” Kakashi had to remember to get Tenzo back for this. He stood up, shott Tenzo the meanest glare he could, and wiped his hands on his pants - trying to hide the fact his palms were sweaty. 

“Hi.” Kakashi held a hand out and Gai just laughed. The instructor pulled Kakashi in for a hug instead. Tenzo was too busy laughing to help so he just let the man hold him. It wasn’t too bad. He could feel every single muscle in Gai’s arms and chest. 

“I’m glad you came! Your Downward Dog pose was beautiful! Do you practice yoga regularly?” Gai’s bright smile made Kakashi feel faint, not to mention the Downward Dog pose had him with his ass in the air. He was secretly thanking himself for wearing a mask, it hid some of his blushing. 

“Uh, yeah I do it at home.” 

“Impressive. Your form is excellent. I hope to see you around more!” Gai gave him a thumbs up and waved at them before moving over to talk to a small child and their mother. 

Tenzo opened his mouth to say something but thought better when he saw the look on Kakashi’s face. 

“You know, he also has a yoga group in the park. It’s early in the morning and it’s exclusively old people but if you want to, I don’t know run into him conveniently, he’s there at 5 am every day.” Tenzo looked over at his moody friend. Kakashi perked up, thought about it, and then slouched back into his seat. 

“No that’s too early.” 

“You have to be at work by 7 am.” 

“I wake up at 6:30.” Kakashi shrugged, not really willing to tell Tenzo that he’s been late to his own class several times. He values his night time. It’s the only time the house is quiet. Sasuke doesn't argue with Naruto and Sakura doesn’t have friends over. 

“Just walk your dogs once in the park and then ask him out.” Tenzo parked his car in front of Kakashi’s house and turned to the teacher. “I think he likes you, he doesn’t hug very much and he was checking you out. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“He rejects me and I’ll have to move towns.” 

“Kakashi.” 

“I’m serious, that man is hot in a weird way and I can’t have him reject me like the last guy did.” 

“He’s nothing like Genma.” 

“Still.” Kakashi had enough and tried to get out of the car. 

“Okay fine, I’ll make it a bet. If he turns you down I’ll buy the house you think you have to relocate to.” Tenzo held his pinky out waiting for Kakashi to agree. 

“That’s a hefty bet. You got the money?” Kakashi leaned in to try and see if his friend was lying. 

“No and I won’t need it because he’s going to say yes and you’ll have to grade all my tests for the next month.” 

“Fine. Since you are so confident.” Kakashi completed his half of the pinky promise and then got out of the car. “I can’t wait to see you buy that huge house on the hill we keep dreaming about.” He slammed the door and tried to ignore Tenzo’s loud laughter as he made his way up the steps. 

He set his alarm for 4:30am and went to bed early. Tenzo’s confidence in this bet scared him and he refused to tell his kids about it. They’d just laugh. 

When the alarm went off he immediately regretted everything. He had no idea what to wear other than his usual hoodie and sweats. He didn’t want to try too hard and he knows Bull will just drag him the whole time so there’s no point wearing anything nice. He sighed and put on a white shirt and jogging pants and then began the arduous task of leashing all of his dogs without waking the kids up. 

He put Pakkun in the baby carrier attached to his chest and adjusted the straps. Pakkun suffered a leg injury thanks to Bull and he’ll get let out and be able to walk closer to the park. All the other dogs got harnesses. He made sure he had everything and then left the house. He didn’t want to be there on time, like a creep, so he took his tired time.

He got to the park a few minutes past 5 am and he spotted Gai immediately in all his green and orange glory. The group was doing minor warm ups and Kakashi had to act like he wasn’t here for the man clad in green.

He took Pakkun out of his baby carrier and set him on the ground. The smallest dog was the loudest dog in his pack, as soon as the dog had touched the ground he started barking. Kakashi could feel Gai looking right at him, so he did his best to not look back. 

“Kakashi?” Gai jogged up to him and his dogs with a smile. 

“Ah Gai?” Kakashi turned and gave him a weak wave. His heart was pounding. Either he’ll get a boyfriend or a new house only the gods know.

“I didn’t know you walk your dogs here!” He put his hand on Bull’s head and scratched, the big dog hardly lets people touch him without a fight but here he was, drooling. Not unlike his owner. 

“They prefer the park but sometimes I just walk them around the block.” 

“Your dogs are very precious. Are you going to be here long?” Gai continued petting Bull.

“Uh not too long, I have to get ready for work and Pakkun can't stand too long.” Kakashi pointed at the baby carrier. 

“Oh where do you work?” 

“The same school Tenzo works at, I’m a teacher.” 

“Teaching the young minds of the world! A very honorable job!” Gai smiled brightly, Kakashi regretted not bringing his sunglasses to curve the shine off of his teeth. 

“If you think so.” 

“I do! I used to teach aerobics at the community college but it’s not as free as what I do now.” 

Gai stood up and looked back at his group. “I have to go and do some teaching, I’d like to talk to you more, are you free after 4pm?” 

The whole point of this plan was for Kakashi to ask Gai out but considering his situation he can’t refuse the man that said his dogs were precious. 

“I get out at 4:30.” 

“I’ll see you at 4:30 then! Goodbye Kakashi!” Gai patted Kakashi on the back and then said goodbye to each of his 8 dogs before leaving.

“Damn.” Kakashi watched him jog all the way back to the group before picking up Pakkun and walking back home. 

It didn’t occur to him to ask Gai where they were going to meet until he was in the middle of a lecture. He continued his day in fear that he wasn’t going to actually see Gai again and that he messed up the one chance he had. He wasn’t going to be able to keep waking up early and walking his dogs just for the chance of seeing him again. Kakashi was sitting in his office picking at his lunch and grading papers when Tenzo snuck up on him. 

“So how’d it go?” Tenzo asked, pulling out his own lunch. 

“Maa, I did it and we talked.” Kakashi leaned back in his chair and sighed. “He said he wanted to talk to me more and he’ll meet me at 4:30.” 

“So it looks like I win and where are you guys meeting?” 

“No idea.” Kakashi turned to his friend who was choking on his lunch. 

“You have no idea.” The man stopped coughing and looked at Kakashi with bewilderment. 

“Yup, no idea. I forgot to ask, his smile was so bright and he was petting my dogs, I just got lost.” Kakashi shrugged and turned his back attention to his papers. Tenzo just laughed and placed his stack of tests in front of Kakashi. 

The rest of his day flew by with all of the grading he had to do, 4:30 had arrived and Kakashi was still at his desk. 

“Hey Kakashi?”

Kakashi looked up to see his three kids standing in the doorway of his office. “What?”

“There’s a weird guy with a bowl cut asking about you by the entrance.” Naruto pointed to the window, he had a predatory look on his face. Kakashi rolled his chair by the window and looked to see Gai waiting patiently for him. 

“Oh god, he meant here?” Kakashi whispered

“Who is he?” Sasuke asked while noseying around his desk. 

“No one, go away. I know I gave you homework so go home and do it.” Kakashi grumbled, packing up his briefcase and pushing his kids out of his office. 

“No fair, you never tell us anything.” Sakura was pouting but Kakashi knew better than to fall for it. 

“Don’t care, I tell you things when I deem it important. I’ll see you at home” He locked his door and walked away from his kids, knowing they are going to try to pry details out of him later. They were there when his last relationship fell apart and for Gai’s sake he wanted to make sure they weren’t going to scare him away with the shovel talk too early. He smiled at the memory of Sakura roundhouse kicking Genma after the breakup. 

He was a few minutes late meeting Gai but he had an excuse. When he rounded the corner Gai smiled and pulled Kakashi into another bear hug. 

“So where are we going?” Kakashi asked after Gai let him go. 

“There’s a nice ramen place down the street we can go to.” 

Kakashi nodded and they walked. Gai talked most of the time, his 3 kids are his life and he has a tortoise. Kakashi mentioned he had 3 kids, 8 dogs, 5 toads, 1 snake and a slug that Sakura refuses to get rid of, and Gai’s eyes were glistening with tears. 

“I’ve always wanted to have a big family, my mother died when I was really young and my dad was the one who took care of me. He died when I was 9.” They sat down at a booth and ordered their ramen. While they waited Gai talked about his family. “I was grateful for everything my father did, I wanted to be just like him. It’s hard though with my kids. They’ve had a hard life.” Gai smiled softly at Kakashi from across the table. 

“Maa, I know what you mean. My mom died giving birth to me and my father died when I was really young. I took in my old teacher’s son, Naruto and the other 2 followed closely behind.” Kakashi was only 18 when he took baby Naruto in, he refused to let the kid be in an orphanage. It was hard enough for Kakashi to survive in foster care. 

“So we are more alike than we thought.” 

“You’ll never see me sporting a bowl cut.” Kakashi smirked as he pulled his mask down. He heard Gai gasp but elected to ignore it to blow on his ramen. 

They ate and talked about their kids and pets, Kakashi’s job and how Gai became a yoga instructor. They finished and paid for their food, Gai insisted on walking Kakashi back to his car. 

“I had fun talking to you, you are very interesting.” Gai laughed while Kakashi put his jacket and briefcase in his car. 

“I’m going to be honest, I was surprised that you asked me out.” Kakashi glanced over at Gai who was blushing. 

“Why?” 

Kakashi wanted to flip this on Tenzo and make him pay for his little bet. He almost missed the date because of it. Gai is a sweet man and Kakashi wanted to keep him close. This whole bet has been a constant win-win for Kakashi, the only thing that could top it is embarrassing Tenzo with all of their cute moments and him gushing about everything Gai does. 

“I was actually going to ask you out.” He felt a little color rise to his still exposed cheeks. 

Gai looked surprised and then he let out a deep laugh. “Well I got to you first. I was happy Tenzo had brought you to class, he had shown me a picture of all his colleges and I couldn’t help but ask about you.” He rubbed the back of his neck, bashfully looking away like he broke some rule. 

“I’m glad Tenzo got me to go to your class, and I’m glad you asked me out.” Kakashi stepped closer to Gai and winked. Gai’s face got even redder before Kakashi planted a kiss on Gai’s cheek. “We should definitely do this again.” 

Gai nodded and flashed Kakashi the sweetest grin. They made plans to meet up every Friday after school and go out. Kakashi had to remember to leave earlier so his kids don’t act up again. Before Kakashi got into his car Gai pulled him into a softer hug, making his heart skip a beat. 

“Until next Friday!” Gai waved

Kakashi waved back, regretting not just kissing him like he wanted to before pulling out of the parking lot. He had 30 minutes to come up with some lies so his kids can leave him alone. He also had a bone to pick with his friend.

Maybe he will wake up early every day, just to watch Gai teach yoga. After he kills Tenzo of course. 

**Author's Note:**

> I don't yoga so pls don't yell at me. My mom does but she doesn't know any names. I'm sorry.


End file.
